


Do You Believe in Life After Death

by Dagonet (AgentDagonet)



Series: Eggsy Sees Ghosts [1]
Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Dead Harry Hart, Eggsy can see ghosts, Gen, not GC compliant, obviously, quick AU from Kentucky to the end of TSS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:20:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22325458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentDagonet/pseuds/Dagonet
Summary: ‘Well, I certainly didn’t believe in there being any sort of existence after death.’‘You’d be surprised how many people say that when they first wake up.’
Series: Eggsy Sees Ghosts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1606978
Kudos: 46





	Do You Believe in Life After Death

The sky really was a lovely shade of blue, Harry thought to himself as he waited for the end. Valentine and Gazelle had left moments ago, and the world was greying out. He could hear Merlin in his ear but didn’t have the strength to reply.  _ I’m sorry, old friend.  _ He was grateful that Eggsy would end up a Kingsman after all- with a crisis like this so close at hand, they would need Knights sooner rather than later. 

His ears were ringing. How were his ears ringing? He was dead. He remembered that quite clearly: the bullet racing toward his head, the impact of the concrete as he fell, Merlin’s voice and the world around him fading until there was nothing left. Or, as the sound cut itself off quite abruptly, perhaps it wasn’t his ears ringing at all. Suddenly he took note of the rest of his senses- he was in his office, standing behind his desk, and

Eggsy. Eggsy who was breathing heavily and leaning himself away from the desk in Harry’s chair, closed laptop sitting on the desk as he looked around the room with a broken expression on his face. 

Shit. He’d seen that nasty business, hadn’t he? And the last thing he’d said to Eggsy was claiming that he’d done it all for his father. Not the best way to leave the world, it seemed, as he hadn’t actually left it. Not entirely.

‘Well, I certainly didn’t believe in there being any sort of existence after death.’

‘You’d be surprised how many people say that when they first wake up.’ Harry startled, head snapping to Eggsy who was looking right at him with the kind of resignation usually reserved for Arthur calling a Toast. ‘Haven’t been there for it before, but I’ve been told often ‘nough.’

‘I-’

‘Just breathe, bruv- I know you don’t need to now, but it helps to do the shit you always did before- least, that’s what dad says.’

‘What?’

‘You didn’t need to blame yourself so much, Galahad- I knew what I was doing. Even if you  _ did _ miss something pretty fuckin’ obvious.’ Lee’s voice came from behind him, and Eggsy was looking at something beyond his left shoulder, but Harry couldn’t bring himself to look. ‘Are you going to look at me, Harry?’

‘When I’m certain this isn’t a particularly intense delusion, perhaps.’

‘We’re gonna be standin’ here a long while then, and we ain’t got time for that.’ Eggsy stood and began to make his way downstairs, Harry at a loss of what to do besides follow. ‘Gotta get back to KIngsman.’

‘You gonna go talk to Arthur, then?’ Lee’s voice is still behind him, but Harry can see movement from his periphery.

‘Yeah, dunno what to do from here- Merlin said Harry’s feed was encrypted, back when he blew himself up, and if Merlin don’t know what happened then Arthur don’ know and Valentine’s got to be stopped. Mum’s got one of those phone cards, ‘member?’ Lee took in a shocked breath, and Eggsy slumped his shoulders as they passed Mr Pickle. He took a moment at the dining table, made himself a drink ‘for my nerves, yeah? Liquid courage to face that arsehole.’ Lee growled and Harry couldn’t help his confused glance between the two.

It  _ was _ Lee, behind him- dressed down in a tee and denims, hair as windswept as it had been the day he’d died but body thankfully whole. Feet fell into step beside him proper, a little off the ground, and Harry gave in to his curiosity. There was time for his existential crisis later- at this moment, there were more immediate questions.

‘What’s Arthur done?’

‘Rigged that last test, that’s what, the prick.’ Harry stopped walking entirely, mind blank with rage.

‘He did  _ what? _ ’ 

‘Test was rigged- sat him and Eggsy up in his office right by the fire, set the tarp up right next to the running fire barely a couple feet from the chair. Chit-chatted and made Eggsy talk about what he’d named JB and shit before handing him the gun. That ain’t the test I did-’

‘Nor I. I will admit to having been sequestered in Arthur’s office, but we were stood several feet away and I was simply handed a gun. At that distance even the blank-’

‘Yeah, even the blank woulda caused some damage. An’ you two got what Rox got- that’s how Rox says hers went. Didn’ make me feel any better about failing, but at least I knew that he’d only done that cos he knew I woulda made it. He didn’ know any way to stop it besides be a cheating arsehole and make me look like a fuckin’ idiot who wouldn’t follow orders.’ Eggsy walked with single minded purpose, quickly and relying on Lee’s warnings of obstacles as opposed to his own eyes.

‘Can I kill him?’

‘Get in line, Hart- I called dibs already.’

‘Quiet, can’t listen to you and talk to Arthur at the same time- either you two wait outside or you shut the fuck up.’ Lee mimed locking his lips and tossing out the key and Harry nodded, shocked into silence with the knowledge that James was also among them in this strange kind of existence he’d found himself a part of. Eggsy made his way into the shop, smiled at Dagonet and took the stairs two at a time before entering the dining room. Arthur, the decanter, two glasses, and an otherwise empty room.

Harry looked around the room, taking time he hadn’t done since his early days as Galahad to really examine the space. It was something he hadn’t been at all quiet about disliking- it was so old fashioned. So stuck in how the place began that it didn’t embrace any of what it had become, obvious technological advances aside.

‘Those founding Kingsman?’ Eggsy gestured to the corner, and Harry looked to the table just in time to see Eggsy switch the glasses.

Something was wrong.

‘Why did Eggsy do that?’ Harry whispered to Lee, who shrugged in reply. His focus was entirely on his son, barely acknowledging Harry, and somehow he felt like he had missed something obvious. Again. What was it about Unwins that caused such lapses in judgement? But Harry had tuned in at the best moment, apparently, as Arthur revealed Valentine’s reason for developing the SIM cards.

‘No…’ Harry whispered, gulped, and seemed to weave a bit in place in realisation. Lee steadied him, and apparently ghosts could touch each other, who knew? ‘That bastard’s sold us all out.’

Eggsy’s eyes flicked to where the ghosts stood so quickly Harry swore he’d imagined it.

‘I’d rather be with Harry. Thanks.’ The trio watched as Arthur insulted and convulsed and fell still.

‘Well, that explains a lot.’ Lee pointed out, likely about Chester’s devolving from pretentious old gentleman to pissed off guttersnipe as he died.

‘Yeah, sometimes people hate where they came from so much they wan’ to destroy it. Arsehole.’ Eggsy muttered as he took the pen and stabbed into Chaster’s flesh, using the nib to tug the implant free. ‘Think Merlin’ll want this shit?’

‘Like a child wants sweets.’ Lee concurred, and Eggsy tugged the rest of the device free with no regard to the blood coating his hands.

‘Aces. Harry?’ Eggsy was looking at him, and Harry met his gaze fully, ‘Is there a way to the bullet from here? Can’ see Arthur goin’ all the way to the dressing room every time.’ Harry shook himself, pulled his mind out of the loop of  _ that man sent me to my death, that man sold Kingsman out, I trusted him, I trusted him. _

‘Ah, yes, apologies- at the fireplace, press the signet ring to the centre of the clock face.’ Eggsy ripped the ring from the corpse and pulled his phone from the pocket as he followed Harry’s instructions.

‘I’m sorry for how I reacted, Eggsy, after the dog test. If I had known-’

‘Save your apologies, Harry, there ain’t nothin’ to forgive.’ Eggsy met his eyes briefly before turning back to the cloth wiping blood from his hands. It wouldn’t do to show up at the manor looking as if he’d just killed someone- no matter how justified. ‘You ‘ad no way of knowing what the prick was doin’. And I let my temper get the best o’ me- dad set me to rights after you left for Kentucky.’ It was sheepish, and Lee laughed a bit.

‘Still, if it weren’t for this strange set of circumstances the way we would have left things was deplorable and I have no excuse-’

‘Stop, Harry.’ Lee thumped a hand onto his shoulder, and shook it a bit. It was more casual a gesture than Harry had received in life from anyone. Even Merlin was a man of few words and fewer gestures, and he was his oldest friend. Had been. Tenses were difficult, like this. ‘It’s alright. You’re only human, after all- everyone has a limit, and you happened to hit yours due to the machinations of the man whose blood is coating this collection of rags on the ground before us.’

‘I pity the next person in this compartment.’ Harry chuckled, looking at the growing pile of used cloth Eggsy had pulled from the dispenser.

‘I’ll be grateful if there  _ is _ someone in this compartment after us. I’m just hopin’ that Merin’ll listen to me so we can stop this maniac before he gets his way.’ Eggsy took a final rag and wiped the sweat from his brow, jaw set and shoulders back in a fashion familiar to Harry from the Black Prince as they slowed to a stop.

‘Well, here we go.’

‘Aye, lad, here we go.’ Merlin’s voice came from the speakers, and Eggsy jumped. Why hadn’t he thought about the train having surveillance?

‘You scared the shit out of me, bruv.’

‘I’ve been trying to parse together what’s going on in there but you’re speaking as if part of a conversation I can only hear your bit of. Care to explain?’ Harry shook his head and Lee stifled a laugh, because what else could you do in a moment such as this?

‘You wouldn’ believe me if I told you- can we table it til after Valentine’s been handled?’

‘What makes you think that you’ll have any part in that, Eggsy?’ It wasn’t said angrily, it was said curiously, and Harry had to wonder just what Merlin assumed was happening in the wake of his death.

‘Well, I can’t fly a plane and you can’t figure out what the fuck is up with these implants and stop his SIM cards at the same time. An’ if we’re gonna stop the tech we got to fuck with how it works- which means messin’ with satellites, cos that’s how phones work, an’ you can’t do all that shit at once.’ The door slid open and Eggsy slid from the seat with a grace Harry was proud of and made his way toward Merlin and Lancelot holding a gun to his chest. Not a single sign of trepidation.

‘Good show, Eggsy.’ Eggsy’s ears went red, but he gave no other sign of having heard Harry. He would make a brilliant Knight.

‘Arthur was a traitor- pulled this shit from his neck myself, you can test the blood if you want,’ Eggsy gestured with his chin to the still-open train compartment, ‘Valentine said he was startin’ this shit tomorrow, and Arthur’s phone’s got a countdown.’ Eggsy pulled it from his pocket and showed the screen to the two of them. Roxy had lowered the gun, though her finger was still closer to the trigger than Lee would like, but Merlin was watching Eggsy raptly in the way he usually reserved for mission briefings.

‘So what are we going to do about it? And yes, Lancelot, I mean  _ we.’ _ Merlin gestured to the room at large, not just the three of them, and that gave Harry pause.  _ Let’s test a theory _ .

‘You send Galahad in as Chester, Lancelot in the Star Wars prototype to interrupt the satellite feed, and you’re going to keep them both alive by posing as a pilot so you can stay in the plane.’ Harry walked toward Merlin, ignoring the gasp from Lee, ‘And we’ll give him an extra set of eyes and ears when he’s in the belly of the beast.’

Merlin’s gaze is fixed on Eggsy, determinedly not moving, but Harry knows his tells. He can see the pain in the set of his brow and the tears he’s refusing to let fall, can see the way he’s forcing his gaze to remain in place. 

‘I know there is a lot to get done, I know that there isn’t really the time to grieve right now- but I also know that you need to stop convincing yourself that your eyes are faulty, Hamish, or we’ll never get this done.’ Eggsy’s jaw dropped, much to Roxy’s confusion, and Merlin swallowed heavily before allowing his gaze to move.

‘I can’t  _ fuckin’  _ believe you’ve managed to cause me problems from beyond the grave you absolute pillock.’ Eggsy let out a disbelieving laugh, Lee’s echoing him, and from a corner there’s a laugh- a voice Harry hadn’t dared to ask after.

‘James,’ Lee breathed, and huffed an incredulous laugh that Eggsy didn’t understand. ‘Look at your girl, there! Can’t believe you managed to keep the name in the family!’ The two men embraced, and Eggsy looked on in confused amusement as the stranger hugged his father so tightly he pulled him off his feet slightly.

‘Didn’t do that myself, mate- Perce proposed her after explaining the unfortunate sexist environment and she was determined to do me proud. Not that she ever had to work at that, my little starlight’s gone above and beyond the call of duty. I’d say I’m sorry she had to beat your boy out- which, also, that’s your little Excalibur? He’s a determined shit!- but it all seems to be working out just fine.’ Eggsy shook his head, but kept his attention on Merlin- he and Harry were sharing one of those too-long stares like Sirius and Lupin in the Potter books.

‘You okay, Rox?’

‘I’m trying to decide if you’ve all gone collectively mad or if there’s something obvious that I’m missing entirely.’

‘Sorry, mate, it’s the second one-’ James disengaged from Lee and came up to Eggsy, dropping a hand to shoulder and leaning down to whisper into his ear, ‘but I’ve got a message for you. I promise I’ll try an’ explain this shit later, but just- really, guv, I have to say that? The fuck does that even mean? Fine, fine. James says that the eventide’s been different without your starlight.’ Roxy paled, engaged the safety of her gun before holstering it, and lifted a hand to her lips.

Eggsy approached her slowly, ignored Merlin and Harry’s whatever it was and James’ sniffling to rest a hand against her bicep. ‘I know this is a lot to take in, and it don’t make much sense at all, but we got shit to do. I’m gonna try an’ get Merlin rebooted or whatever- can you see about gettin’ us a plane and shit? We’ve got a world to save.’

This seemed to shake Roxy from her stupor, and she nodded firmly before striding off and James followed in her wake.

\---

‘How the fuck do you tie a tie?’ Eggsy complained in the plane, and Harry and Lee exchanged a glance before Harry stood and made his way to the mirror. He pulled his own tie apart, glad that he was able to do so, and stood just behind Eggsy in the mirror. ‘Well, isn’t this familiar?’ Eggsy smirked, so much more confident than he had been the first time they had stood before a mirror together. Harry lengthened the wider end and waited for Eggsy to do the same.

‘A gentleman always looks put together and can use any of a plethora of knots to keep his tie looking pristine- but a Kingsman only ever uses a full windsor. Watch closely.’ As Harry’s hands began moving and Eggsy’s began to mirror him, Lee stood and went to bother Merlin. The plane was on autopilot, and the man was examining the chip with several layers of magnifying glass and a pair of forceps.

‘Merlin,’ Lee spoke softly and sat across from the man, ‘I wanted to thank you.’

‘I can’t recall having done anything worthy of thanks for you and yours, Lee.’

‘You remembered. And maybe you’ve been ignoring me all this time when I’d come by to visit, but I can’t blame you for dismissing the seemingly impossible. But I know you remembered, I know you kept Harry from wallowing in his guilt- but you’re shouldering a great deal of guilt that isn’t yours to bear. That isn’t really anyone’s to bear, actually.

‘You didn’t kill me either, Merlin. Shite happens, and I knew that you all were more valuable to the world than I was to  _ my _ world. I made my choice knowing what was going to happen, and yeah seeing my girl and son go through what they’ve gone through was awful- but I wouldn’t change it.’ Merlin still hadn’t looked at him, but Lee took a chance and rested a hand against his. Merlin twitched, head snapping up and eyes locking with Lee’s, and a single tear rolled down his cheek.

‘I’m so sorry, I-’ 

‘If you really need to get this off your chest to be functional then we can do this here- but I think this is just you trying to shove everything into this moment because you’re worried I’m going to disappear at any moment. And, spoilers, I’m not. I don’t want to brag, but,’ Lee smiled and gestured to himself with both thumbs, ‘you’re looking at the foremost expert in ghosts. I’ve figured out why I stayed, and I know how I could go on, but I just… don’t want to. There’s shit to be done and help I can give, so here I am.

‘I’m not going anywhere. Take your time. But let’s save the world first.’ They shared a small smile before the comms beeped. 

‘Merlin? Where are you?’ Percival’s voice came from the console, and Merlin exchanged a glance with Lee before replying.

‘Currently midair en route to Valentine.’

‘Did I hear you correctly- you’re en route to Valentine right now? So soon after a Knight’s fallen and Arthur’s just… lying here in the middle of the dining room?’

‘Oh shit,’ Lee laughed, ‘we never did anything with the body. Just took what we needed and left.’

‘The world can’t wait for us to mourn, Percival- and Arthur betrayed the very foundations of our organisation- we weren’t sure of our security, or you’d have been called in.’ Merlin chuckled as he replied to Percival.

‘We? Who  _ do _ you have with you, then?’

‘I’ve got Lancelot and Galahad.’

‘Merlin, Galahad is dead.’ It was said softly, warily, as if Merlin could possibly have forgotten the death of his oldest friend.

‘Harry is dead, Percival- but Galahad lives.’

‘Oh, you mean his boy, then.’ Percival had always been quick on the uptake, and in this instant Merlin could not imagine being more grateful. ‘What’s the plan, then?’

‘Send Galahad into the base, Lancelot is currently in the transatmospheric device from the Star Wars project en route to take out a satellite to sever the chain and buy us some time, and Galahad will get me access to the device so I can shut it down.’

‘As always, Merin, you make it all sound so simple. All your bases covered.’ Percival sighed, and Merlin took pity on the man.

‘I’d appreciate your assistance, as you’ve already become involved at least tangentially, with Lancelot. You know of her difficulties with heights- I’m sure having you in her ear would steady her a fair bit. I need her at her best, or this is all going to go very, very wrong very quickly. I can give you her task timeline, if you’d like to take that task from me.’ It was a made up job, but it would serve a true purpose. Like asking a child to assist by asking them to tidy an already clean area.

‘Patch me in, sir.’ Percival already sounded in firmer spirits, more determined, compared to the despondence from mere moments before. Merlin patched him in before making his way back into the main cabin.

‘Looking good, Eggsy.’

‘Feeling good, Merlin.’

‘Once more unto the breach!’ Yelled James; Merlin and Harry facepalmed in unison, Lee groaned loudly, and Eggsy laughed. What a way to start the next chapter of his life.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, you can find me on tumblr at [AgentDagonet](http://www.agentdagonet.tumblr.com) feel free to send me prompts or recs or whatever. I'll try anything!


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